:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/QRYX7ACVFRHZJLQMYLYXKB6BSA.jpg)
Fifty years ago, as chief of the Illinois attorney general’s Environmental Control Law Division, a relatively new field of law at that time, I had the occasion to tour an Illinois nuclear power plant. I was taken aback to see extensive pools of water containing bundles of spent nuclear fuel rods standing on end just beneath the surface of the water. I was advised that a pilot plant study had indicated that it would have an essentially closed-loop system that would not generate large amounts of spent fuel; however, once the full-scale plant became operational, the system failed to perform as anticipated. Plant workers were left with no good alternative but to store spent fuel rods in pools of water, at least temporarily, pending (hopefully) a better idea.
It appears that the nuclear power industry is still waiting for that better idea. A supporter of nuclear power production now maintains, in essence, that we have nothing to be concerned about regarding spent nuclear fuel because all we need to do is encase it in concrete and then open it up and repackage it in concrete every several decades. (In perpetuity, presumably; the radioactivity will remain unabated for a very long time indeed.) To understand how absurd this proposal is requires little more than to say it out loud.
Chernobyl and Three Mile Island were wake-up calls, but we do not appear to have fully awakened. It does not help that a nuclear power plant now sits near the front lines of a shooting war between Russia and Ukraine. Hopefully, we will somehow be lucky enough never to have a massive nuclear power plant disaster. But regardless of that, we will have radioactive spent fuel problems with us forever. We can no longer escape that fact. However, we can choose to stop making it worse.
Germany has decided to end its use of nuclear power. The U.S. should do the same. If there is anything worse than having an enormous carbon footprint, it has to be for that footprint to be radioactive too!
— Larry R. Eaton, Chicago
Ukraine needs munitions
In a July 14 op-ed (“By giving Ukraine cluster bombs, US admits that civilians are expendable”), Stephen J. Lyons decries the fact that cluster munitions provided to Ukraine will create unexploded bomblets for civilians in Russia’s war against Ukraine; he implies that they should not be used. The fact the bombs create risks to civilians is not disputed. However their use will improve Ukraine’s ability to win the war and reduce the loss of its military members and civilians.
Russia has been using banned military weapons throughout this war with no regard for Ukraine’s civilians. This includes cluster, thermobaric and incendiary bombs. Mines, also banned by many countries, are placed throughout Russian-occupied territory. Russia uses a barbaric tactic to take over territory: Use artillery to virtually destroy every building before advancing with mechanized infantry troops. Bakhmut and Melitopol were decimated in this way before being occupied. Russia uses cluster munitions with a 30% dud rate while the U.S. supplied weapons have only a 2% to 3% dud rate.
Russia has heavy defenses to stop Ukraine from retaking its territory. Trench networks are a key part of this defense. Artillery strikes using typical 155 mm rounds on trenches are fairly ineffective at dislodging troops compared with cluster munitions.
Russia can bomb and launch missiles and drones into Ukraine. It has targeted civilian infrastructure including hospitals, schools, theaters, shopping malls and electrical substations. No day goes by without civilians killed by Russia’s aggressive war. Supplying Ukraine with needed weaponry such as cluster munitions will help it regain more of its territory and end the war quicker. The faster the war ends with Russia ousted from Ukraine, the fewer lives lost.
At war’s end, mines and cluster bomblets will have to be cleared.
— Richard Hahin, Cortland, Illinois
RFK Jr.’s conspiracy theories
An assassin’s bullet 55 years ago ended the dream of Robert F. Kennedy to continue Camelot in the White House. Today, his son appears intent on getting elected president on the platform of conspiracies.
Among them are that vaccines cause autism, antidepressants cause mass shootings, and Wi-Fi causes cancer and “leaky brain.” So besides the wind turbines that Donald Trump blames for cancer, we now have wireless internet access to fret about.
Most recently, RFK Jr. bizarrely bleated — with zero evidence — that COVID-19 is designed to attack Caucasians and Black people, with Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese largely immune.
I have only vague memories of RFK Jr.’s father when he was gunned down in 1968 while running for president. As I got older, I learned he was young and vibrant and had a vision of an America with equality for all. And he also negotiated with the Soviet Union to remove weapons that could have started World War III in 1962.
His son is sadly blowing the opportunity to continue his dad’s legacy, instead burying our country beneath an avalanche of fallacy.
— Vin Morabito, Scranton, Pennsylvania
Conduct during House hearing
Chicago Tribune Opinion
Recently, a Republican-led House committee questioned FBI Director Christopher Wray. During questioning, some members of the committee were hostile toward Wray, using name-calling, raising their voices, making unsubstantiated claims and stating personal opinions about his character.
Those of us who watched Wray saw calm, appropriate responses without malice. For a less experienced person who may not be able to collect their thoughts, it would have been a nightmare.
TV announcers claimed that the hearing being televised worsened the hostility, that some members were creating an image for their voters.
Hostile behavior needs to be condemned and replaced with an established code of conduct for all witnesses and committee members. Investigations should not be run like a circus!
— Raymond Hubbard, Sandwich, Illinois
Join the conversation in our Letters to the Editor Facebook group.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.